Askinosie Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate factory who sources their beans directly from farmers in low-income countries. For more than a decade, Shawn Askinosie has been searching for a way to make an impact. “For me, the sense of purpose comes from my faith,” Shawn explains. For more than 17 years, he has been associated with a Trappist monetary near his home in Springfield, Missouri. “And, I think it really springs forth from my compassion that results from my dad’s death.” Shawn’s father died of lung cancer when Shawn was only 14 years old. His mother also died at a young age. “When those things happen to us, whatever sorrow it may be: we have a broken heart. And then we’re better able to see others who have that kind of broken-heartedness. And I think, over the years, that’s what has drawn me to this kind of purpose.” Shawn tells the story of his search for meaning in his book, Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul, which he co-wrote with his daughter Lawren. In Search of Meaningful Work In 2005, Shawn was a criminal defense lawyer. “I made my reputation in the defense of murder cases,” Shawn says. “I loved everything about it, until I didn’t. When you don’t love it anymore, you feel it, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The only problem was, I had no other skill. I didn’t know how to do anything other than cross-examine people.” Over the next five years, Shawn began exploring hobbies outside of work. However, he says, “It just wasn’t coming.” For the next five years, he tried a wide variety of hobbies. “Even 12 years ago, Google was in full force,” he explains. “I was distracted by all of the possibilities.” He thought of buying a franchise. He tried making cupcakes. “I went to Magnolia Bakery in New York, just to look at the cupcakes and taste them, and see the place,” he says. He thought about baking pies. He looked at a frozen custard franchise. And yet, he never felt fully drawn to any of these possibilities. “I told myself I would feel it when it was right. I would sense deep down that this was what I was supposed to do, and it just wasn’t happening.” Creating Space for the Right Idea “As I approached this from a very traditional Type A, hard-charging entrepreneur, I said, OK, let’ research all the possibilities. What makes sense financially? How much savings do I have? What can I invest? What’s the ROI? What’s the barrier to entry? I asked all the questions, but I didn’t feel it.” Pushing forward through a logical path was not leading him to the outcome he was looking for. “This process was five years. And during that process, I prayed this very simple prayer, ‘Dear God, give me something else to do.’” The answer to Shawn’s prayers came unexpectedly. “During this 5-year search, I got this volunteer opportunity to work in our local hospital in palliative care, which is essentially end-of-life care,” he describes. Every Friday, he would visit with patients in the hospital. “It had nothing to do with my search,” he says. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, the fifth thing on my list was, go volunteer at this hospital.’” However, Shawn was open to volunteering at the hospital because of sorrow in his own life. When Shawn was 14 years old, his dad died of lung cancer. “I thought, I can go help people who are experiencing the dying process.” The patients would request a volunteer to visit them. “I would go in and talk to them about whatever they wanted to talk about. Then at the end, I would offer to pray with them. When people agreed, Shawn asked, “What would you like me to pray for?” This opened up a new avenue of conversation. “For those seconds,” Shawn recalls,” and I mean seconds, I actually thought of someone besides myself. I was so driven to find the next thing. And for those seconds, it was not about me. And then, many times, when I left the front doors of this big hospital, walking out to my car, I felt like my feet weren’t on the ground.” In this five-year period of